Identity Processes and Intrinsic and Extrinsic Goal Pursuits: Directionality of Effects in College Students

Promoting Adolescents' Heritage Cultural Identity Development: Exploring the Role of Autonomy and Relatedness Satisfaction in School-Based Interventions

Given the significance of heritage cultural identity for optimal adolescent development, it is imperative to investigate factors influencing the efficacy of interventions aimed at promoting heritage cultural identity. Using latent profile cluster analysis and multinomial logistic regressions, this longitudinal study examined how autonomy and relatedness need satisfaction at school (1) related to heritage cultural identity development trajectories, and (2) moderated effects of a school-based intervention. The study included N = 198 adolescents (Mage = 12.86 years, SDage = 0.75, 52% female, 41% immigrant descent, 49% intervention group) in Germany. Teacher-student relationships played an important role in facilitating intervention effects on identity development trajectories, emphasizing the importance of the relational context when implementing school-based interventions to promote heritage cultural identity development.

Silage maize as a potent candidate for sustainable animal husbandry development-perspectives and strategies for genetic enhancement

Maize is recognized as the queen of cereals, with an ability to adapt to diverse agroecologies (from 58^oN to 55^oS latitude) and the highest genetic yield potential among cereals. Under contemporary conditions of global climate change, C₄ maize crops offer resilience and sustainability to ensure food, nutritional security, and farmer livelihood. In the northwestern plains of India, maize is an important alternative to paddy for crop diversification in the wake of depleting water resources, reduced farm diversity, nutrient mining, and environmental pollution due to paddy straw burning. Owing to its quick growth, high biomass, good palatability, and absence of anti-nutritional components, maize is also one of the most nutritious non-legume green fodders. It is a high-energy, low-protein forage commonly used for dairy animals like cows and buffalos, often in combination with a complementary high-protein forage such as alfalfa. Maize is also preferred for silage over other fodders due to its softness, high starch content, and sufficient soluble sugars required for proper ensiling. With a rapid population increase in developing countries like China and India, there is an upsurge in meat consumption and, hence, the requirement for animal feed, which entails high usage of maize. The global maize silage market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.84% from 2021 to 2030. Factors such as increasing demand for sustainable and environment-friendly food sources coupled with rising health awareness are fueling this growth. With the dairy sector growing at about 4%-5% and the increasing shortage faced for fodder, demand for silage maize is expected to increase worldwide. The progress in improved mechanization for the provision of silage maize, reduced labor demand, lack of moisture-related marketing issues as associated with grain maize, early vacancy of farms for next crops, and easy and economical form of feed to sustain household dairy sector make maize silage a profitable venture. However, sustaining the profitability of this enterprise requires the development of hybrids specific for silage production. Little attention has yet been paid to breeding for a plant ideotype for silage with specific consideration of traits such as dry matter yield, nutrient yield, energy in organic matter, genetic architecture of cell wall components determining their digestibility, stalk standability, maturity span, and losses during ensiling. This review explores the available information on the underlying genetic mechanisms and gene/gene families impacting silage yield and quality. The trade-offs between yield and nutritive value in relation to crop duration are also discussed. Based on available genetic information on inheritance and molecular aspects, breeding strategies are proposed to develop maize ideotypes for silage for the development of sustainable animal husbandry.

The Role of Parental Socio-Economic Status and Perceived Career-Related Behaviors in Developmental Trajectories of Educational Identity in Adolescence: A Four-Wave Study

Personal identity formation is a key developmental task of adolescence, with the educational domain being a core life domain. Parents are gatekeepers of adolescent career development but their role in facilitating educational identity formation still needs to be uncovered. The present study investigated developmental trajectories of educational identity processes (commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment) across two academic years. Educational identity processes, parental socio-economic status, and parental career-related behaviors (support, interference, lack of engagement) were appraised through a four-wave longitudinal study with 5- to 6-month intervals ( N = 744; M age = 15.2 years, 55% girls). Results of the latent class growth analysis revealed five educational identity trajectories (i.e., Undifferentiated, Searching moratorium, Foreclosed, Diffusion, and Achievement). Commitment and in-depth exploration processes were stable for all five trajectories. The undifferentiated trajectory (medium stable levels for all identity processes) was the most prevalent. Parental socio-economic status and perceived parental support correlated positively with achievement and searching moratorium trajectories and negatively with diffused and undifferentiated trajectories. Foreclosed adolescents perceived their parents as the most engaged. Trajectories characterized by high reconsideration of commitment also correlated the most with perceived parental interference. The results bring forward valuable insights into the role parents play in their adolescents’ educational identity development.

Effects of Goal Appraisals and Goal Motivation on Dimensions of Identity Development: A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Analysis of European American Emerging Adults

In the present study, we investigated the ways in which the ideographic goal descriptions and goal appraisals of European American high school seniors reflect potentials for intentional self-development during emerging adulthood (EA), a lifespan phase characterized by increasing levels of freedom and decreasing age-graded, socially sanctioned developmental norms. Additionally, we investigated whether variation in participants’ goal appraisals and the motivational qualities emergent in their goal descriptions would predict variation in dimensions of identity development, both concurrently at age 18 and prospectively at age 23. Results of an exploratory, mixed method analysis of participants’ (N = 129, 56.6% male, M_age = 18.24, SD = 0.37) goal data revealed diversity in education and work goals, strong potentials for intentional self-development reflected across goal appraisals, and more nuanced reflections of intentional self-development across the motivational qualities emergent in goal descriptions. Results partially supported the hypothesis that goal appraisals and motivational qualities that reflect potentials for intentional self-development would predict kindred processes of identity development across the first five years of EA. These findings contribute to a nascent empirical literature focused on the interrelationship of goal and identity constructs during EA and suggest new avenues for future research.

Searching for Autonomy before the Transition to Higher Education: How do Identity and Self-Determined Academic Motivation Co-Evolve?

Identity and academic motivation are particularly at stake before the major transition to higher education. However, few studies have explored their changes and their longitudinal bidirectional links. To fill this gap, a three-wave study from the end of the 11th grade to the end of the 12th grade was conducted to explore changes in identity processes and academic motivation and to investigate how they might be interconnected over time. 599 adolescents (mean age 17.4; 59% girls) completed questionnaires containing measures about identity processes and three types of academic motivation: autonomous, controlled, and impersonal. Throughout the study span of one year, four identity processes increased: commitment making, identification with commitment, exploration in breadth and exploration in depth, while the process of ruminative exploration decreased. Simultaneously, late adolescents encountered an increase in impersonal motivation, more salient for boys. The results also revealed unidirectional links from motivation to identity processes, with no gender or age moderator effects: exploration in breadth and exploration in depth were positively predicted by autonomous motivation, ruminative exploration was positively predicted by autonomous, controlled, and impersonal motivation. In addition, impersonal motivation negatively predicted commitment making. On the other hand, identification with commitment positively predicted autonomous motivation. Practical implications are discussed.

Eating Disorder Symptomatology and Identity Formation in Adolescence: A Cross-Lagged Longitudinal Approach

Introduction: Eating disorder symptomatology, comprising both psychological and behavioral aspects of subclinical eating concerns, constitutes a clear precursor of developing eating disorders. It is crucial to investigate its antecedents and correlates to subsequently inform eating disorder prevention programs. The present study focused on identity formation, a core developmental task in adolescence, that has increasingly been linked to eating disorder development. Our main aim was to examine the temporal sequence between eating disorder symptomatology and identity formation. Methods: Data on eating disorder symptomatology and identity formation were collected in 530 high school students (at Time 1: mean age = 15 years; SD = 1.84; range: 12-18 years; 50.6% females) using self-report questionnaires at three annual measurement points. Cross-lagged structural equation modeling was performed to examine the directionality of effects. Results: Results indicated bidirectional effects between eating disorder symptomatology and identity formation. Identity confusion seemed to increase vulnerability to body dissatisfaction and bulimia symptoms, whereas identity synthesis seemed to protect against their development. Additionally, identity synthesis seemed to protect against the development of drive for thinness as well. At the same time, body dissatisfaction and bulimia symptoms positively predicted identity confusion and negatively predicted identity synthesis over time. Conclusion: The present study adds to the growing body of literature on identity and eating disorders by focusing on their temporal interplay in a community sample of adolescents. As bidirectional effects emerged, a greater emphasis on identity formation in eating disorder prevention programs is advocated.